Tag: book tag

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

EstherLeave a comment

Hello, my lovely peeps! Life’s been busy, so it’s back to mostly reviews on this site, but I haven’t done a tag in a while, and it feels like the middle of the year was the perfect time to post one again. Today’s tag is going to be the Mid-Year Freak Out tag. I did a different mid-year review tag last year, but I’ve been seeing this one everywhere and wanted to give it a go. The creator of this tag is Ely over at Earl Grey Books, so make sure to stop by there to say hi as well!

(Click on the book covers for a link to their Goodreads page)

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2022

I read a lot of great books this year, but my favorite may have been Perdido Street Station. It may have been a hard-to-read book at times (both because of the dense writing and events/descriptions that were difficult to stomach), but the writing was stellar and the plot was pretty insane; the main antagonist being moths whose very nature made the demons from hell flee in horror. See my review here!

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022.

Not much of a surprise here. I’ve been reading a lot of standalone books and starting new series lately, but of the series that I have started (and continued on), there’s one that I will always find my nose in: The Virgil Flowers series. Ocean Prey, however, is a combination of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers series and his Lucas Davenport (Prey Series) books and was probably one of my favorite reads of the year. I loved it so much, I ended up buying it a second time as a paperback to my hardcover. Before you judge me, though, it’s also because the hardcover I got was misprinted and missing the last two chapters. Check out my review here!

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

Last year, I read Sons of Valor by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson via NetGalley audiobooks. I enjoyed it so much; felt every rush during engagements, and felt the cold fear run down my back during other confrontations. It was a great book and I ended up getting the e-book as well during a sale. The second book in the series, Violence of Action, was released back in early June, and I’m really looking forward to reading it soon.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

The next book in the Virgil Flowers and Prey series is coming out later this year. I have an e-ARC from NetGalley, but I am very much looking forward to getting myself a physical copy when it releases. Righteous Prey by John Sandford will be out this October!

5. Biggest disappointment.

I think I may have mentioned this before in another tag, but while no books this year were really true disappointments, if I had to choose one of my 2022 finished reads, I would say that Not A Drill by Lee Child came pretty close. I have read a few of the Jack Reacher books, and they were also so exciting. Sure, this may have been a short story, but it was a bit too short, and I even felt a little bored with it. You can find my review on this book here!

6. Biggest surprise.

Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World: A History by William Alexander was surprising[ly] good. I have only recently started to really enjoy nonfiction books, but I’d mostly kept to memoirs and biographies. A book of tomato facts in a subgenre I’ve never heard of (microhistory) was not on my list of books I’d thought I’d enjoy to the point of putting a grin to my face. Yet, I loved the book so much that my mom had to leave the room in case another tomato fact came spilling out of my mouth (again). I knew it would have been fun, I was surprised on the level of entertainment I got from the book. You can read my review for it here!

7. Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)

This is hard! Far removed from my days of sticking to a single (or two) genres and a rotation of the same 3-ish authors, ever since I started Cozy with Books, I’ve really started to enjoy all sorts of different reads and authors. Most of my books, this year, are from new authors, so here are a few whose titles I really enjoyed.

Sarah Jio
A.J. Sherwood
Travis Baldree

8. Newest fictional crush.

I honestly don’t think I’ve had any new fictional crushes after Royce & Hadrian (Riyria Chronicles) and Virgil (Virgil Flowers), so no new crushes this year!

9. Newest favorite character.

Ryn, from A Mark of Kings by Bryce O’Connor & Luke Chmilenko. A horse that shape-shifts (but is not really a horse) with crazy powers, talks to people via the mind, and is older than your grandpa and your great grandpa, and your great great grandpa, and your great great great grandpa, and your many more great grandpas…you get it. He’s ancient, wise, powerful, loyal, and a major badass! You can read my review of A Mark of Kings here!

10. Book that made you cry.

I’m always a blubbering mess with books. The last book that had me sobbing was The Bookshop on Primrose Hill by Sarah Jio. Having started somewhat slowly, it quickly picks up speed, and by the end, I was sobbing for both Eloise and her daughter, Valentina. Check out my review of it, here!

11. Book that made you happy.

Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World was the last book to have me grinning like a goofy schoolkid having discovered the planets and dinosaurs for the first time. However, for the sake of not repeating a book for this tag, I also really enjoyed #Rejected Goddesses by Natalie Watson & Nina Holmes. It was such a lighthearted read and though both protagonists’ love lives were a mess in the beginning, with a bit of luck, family, and friends things eventually end on a happy note. You can read my review for it here!

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

That would be A Mark of Kings by Bryce O’Connors & Luke Chmilenko. Not only is it my prettiest book this year, but it’s a gift from my brother, who had gone down my Amazon wishlist and picked the present based on cover alone! That’s two votes!

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

The Labyrinth of Flame by Courtney Schafer is the third and final book to the Shattered Sigil trilogy and I have yet to get to it. It’s been on my Kindle forever and on my TBR even longer! The first two books were amazing (though, more so the first) but I tend to freak out and get intimidated by larger books (anything 500 and above pages). I really hope to get to this final book soon, and if “finishing the trilogy” isn’t enough motivation, time sure is. I need to read it before I begin to forget the first two books!

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Book Tag: 20 Questions Tag

Esther11 Comments

Happy Thursday my lovely peeps🐣!
There’s no review today as I have one for tomorrow’s blog tour stop. Instead, here’s a book tag that I’ve been meaning to do since *checks calendar* LAST YEAR. I had been scrolling around and looking for book tag ideas and found this one on Zezee’s “A Long List of Book Tags“, thought it was a fun tag, and like my TBR books, simply never got back to actually doing it.

I’m not sure who started/created this tag, but a big shout-out, and thanks, to you because I had a lot of fun with this post!

1. How Many Books Is Too Many Books In a Series?

If it’s anything contemporary, I don’t mind if it’s endless. Sandford’s Prey series has 31 books, 32 later this year and I wouldn’t mind if there were 32 more books coming out afterwards. For most other genres, I like to keep the book count under 7 or 8 books.

2. How Do You Feel About Cliffhangers?

I absolutely adore cliffhanger chapters, especially if there’s multiple POVs in the book and one character’s danger won’t be addressed until maybe even several chapters later! However, I’m not as much of a fan of book ending cliffhangers, mainly because I know I won’t have access to the next book for a while. The good thing though is that they make me want to continue reading the series!

3. Hardback or Paperback?

A while ago, I may have told you that I prefer Hardbacks, but recently I’ve been more of a paperback fan. Especially now that I have a few book sleeves? My paperbacks won’t get damaged as often when I travel with them. Aesthetics and bookshelves wise, of course I still love my hardbacks ♥️

4. Favorite Book?

I’ve waited 12 books for Virgil Flowers to start working together on a case with his boss, Lucas Davenport. I’ve always been curious on how their different dynamics would look like when they’re working on the same case rather than separately. Davenport is a Porsche driving, suit wearing, not afraid to get violent if needed cop versus the indie-shirt wearing, boat-toting, “forgets” his gun in the car, avoids death when he can, cowboy cop who looks like a surfer dude, Virgil Flowers. Finally, this year, I got to read Ocean Prey and I had a blast! I am eagerly awaiting book 32 of the Davenport series (#14 Virgil Flowers) later this year.

5. Least Favorite Book?

I had to think about this one. I’m an easy to please human who is happy so long as a book can make me feel something (and I feel a LOT…have you ever cried because the sky’s too pretty before? I have). Lee Child’s Jack Reacher (albeit I did start mid-series) was one of my first introductions to my, now favorite genre, mystery thrillers. So, when I borrowed the short story, Not a Drill, another Reacher book, I had some high hopes. It was…too short and kind of dull. If I had to choose a least favorite book, while I didn’t hate it, it comes close.

6. Love Triangles: Yes or No?

NO. It is, in fact, my least favorite trope of all time.

7. The Most Recent Book You Just Couldn’t Finish?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. This one was a bummer because I was practically there to the finish line, having DNF’d around the 70% mark. I don’t know what happened. I just felt the same thing I felt with The Eye of The World where when I realized that I was forcing myself to read a SINGLE page a day, just to make progress, I knew it was over. I was really looking forward to it too, which added to the pain of having to drop it. Maybe…just maybe, I’ll eventually pick it back up. I wrote a short summary in my journal, so I could pick it back up at the 70% mark if I really needed to.

8. A Book You’re Currently Reading?

I’m reading two and one of them is #Rejected Goddesses by Natalie Watson and Nina Holmes.

9. The Last Book You Recommended to Someone?

I recommended a true crime trivia book to a few people, a little while back. It’s Uncle John’s True Crime: A Classic Collection of Crooks, Cops, and Capers by Bathroom Readers’ Institute, which I thought was a really funny book full of trivia and stories about history’s dumbest criminals and genius masterminds! I even read a few passages to my brother at the dining table because I knew he’d like some of the stories.

10. Oldest Book You’ve Read by Publication Date?

I had to go Goodreads diving for this one! I’m sure some of the assigned reads in English class, back in high school, could date way further (I mean, we’ve all been assigned at least ONE Shakespeare read right?) I decided to just stick with the ones I’ve recorded in GR. Of that list, two books tied for the oldest, both being published in 1989, Children of the River by Linda Crew and Rules of Prey by John Sandford.

11. Newest Book You’ve Read by Publication Date?

Unpublished and by date, that would be The Knave of Secrets by Alex Livingston. It comes out on June 7th, 2022. For books I’ve read, that’s been published, I believe Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde may be my newest read.

12. Favorite Author?

John Sandford. I think I rave enough about this guy on my blog. If you took a peek at my “Book Reviews by Author” list, he’s also my most reviewed author on this blog 😂 I don’t know…I just love his writing, characters, and dialogues!

13. Buying Books or Borrowing Books?

I prefer to buy. I love my Libby app, but I like to own my books, especially if I love them. I will admit though, with Libby, I’ve been borrowing a lot more books nowadays.

14. A Book That You Dislike That Everyone Else Seems to Love?

I don’t think I ever managed to get to the books that everyone else seems to love (that growing TBR mountain, ya know?). I’ve never read The Hunger Games, Twilight, or Divergent back in high school. Even now, I simply haven’t tried the trending books yet. Every other book keeps catching my eye!

15. Bookmarks or Dog-Ears?

*GASSSSP* DOG-EAR??? I rather have to sit and memorize the page number than dog-ear my books. Bookmarks, of course! Not that I actually own bookmarks…anyone got a spare receipt?

16. A Book You can Always Reread?

Do series count? If they do, I’ll take the entire Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles by CLAMP and call it a day. If I had to pick a series to read for the rest of my life, thus forcing myself to only reread this? It’d be Tsubasa. I told my brother the other day, “So far, none of the other anime/mange I’ve watched/read since Tsubasa has come close to being my favorite and was as magical” and I was already rereading it the other day.

If I had to choose a single book…I mean…I’ve only read A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett like ten times. Why not make it another hundred?

17. Can You Read While Hearing Music?

Only if there’s no lyrics involved. Lofi, piano and other instrumental, or even ambience background sounds, but nothing with words.

18. One or Multiple POVs?

I could do both, but prefer the ones with multiple POVs.

19. Do You Read A Book In One-Sitting or Over Multiple Days?

I have read books in a single sitting before (both no breaks and tiny breaks in between) and I hated it. It felt rushed and, even with small breaks in the middle, I get this eyes foggy, disorientated, where-am-I, feeling from reading too much for too many hours in a day. Now-a-days, I don’t have to worry about that. I’m too busy to manage more than a few chapters a day AND I’m a slow reader.

20. A Book You’ve Read Because of the Cover?

There was a giveaway, hosted by a blog tour group, for Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer. I had participated because of its gorgeous cover (plus dragons!) and I’d won! It was a fantastic book and I went on to rave about it for days. Not to mention the massive book hangover it left me with, too!

That’s that! 20 questions! And now, I tag:

Meet The Blogger Book Tag

Esther10 Comments

(ノ#-_-)ノ ミ┴┴ Wₕₐₜ dₒ yₒᵤ ₘₑₐₙ ᵢₜ’ₛ ₒₙₗy ₜₕᵤᵣₛdₐy???

A huge thank you to John (Tales from Absurdia) for tagging me in this!
Shoutouts to Bibliomavens as the creator behind the Meet The Blogger Book Tag!

If you enjoy this tag, feel free to join in and definitely check out John’s blog too! He’s an amazing book blogger and a gem of a person 📚 When you stop by, maybe give John a like, follow, and wave too 🥰

I love listicle book tags just as much as the next person, but when I come across or get tagged into any that are more personal, different, or fun as these, I get a little bit extra excited! This was a particularly fun tag to get to know me, the blogger behind Cozy with Books!

Rules

  • Nominated bloggers can nominate ten other bloggers.
  • Use the same questions from the tag.
  • Tag the original creator (Bibliomavens) and the blogger who tagged you

Who is your all-time favorite book character?

Virgil Flowers. I love Sandford’s writing and love both the main characters from two of his series, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport/Prey, but between Virgil, the cowboy with hair too long to be a cop’s, and the fancy suited Davenport, I think I prefer Virgil. Both have a criminal sort of mind (catch a thief by thinking like one, right?) but Virgil has a special empathic side to him. I probably would have liked Davenport more, but there’s a special bias towards Virgil because I was introduced to Sandford’s books through Virgil first, even though this series is the spin off of Prey.

If you were stranded on a desert island, which book would you take with you? (Survival books do not count)

I would say the biggest physical book on my TBR, but I have a better plan. An omnibus! Several books in one! I had such a hard time trying to understand and wrap my brain around the writing style of the author, the events, and characters of The Black Company, that the first time I read the book, it all went “in one ear (eye?) and out the other” because I promptly forgot everything and couldn’t summarize a thing.

I eventually went back to read short excerpts and do like the concept/idea behind it, so will definitely give it another try. There’s no better time to sit and minutely go through every detail than when you’re stranded on an island. Once the belly’s full, shelter’s established, and SOS rocks are laid, there’s nothing left to do than wait. Might as well read right?

What’s your most unpopular book opinion?

I used to hate romance books, but recently started to think that they’re kind of cute. I wouldn’t pick them up out of my own volition, but if one lands on my lap, I’ll read it. However, if I come across a book where romance isn’t really needed and things get heated in the most random locations during the most random scenes, then I’m a little iffy about it. My least favorite trope is the love triangle.

What’s your weirdest bookish habit?

I tell people that I can’t sit through a show/movie; I once was in and out of a living room, catching only glimpse of a horror movie. Without fail, every single person ask, “Then how do you read?? I’m sure you must sit for hours through a book!”

I don’t.

Event/scene too exciting? Emotionally inducing? Character death??? Some random anything in the room distracts me??? There goes my attention! I leave the book, get up, take a quick walk, and return a few minutes later.

What character would you bring to a family event as your fake partner?

Hmm…I’m not entirely sure how to answer this. I’m not exactly built for this question 😅
If I must choose, however, I’d love to have Virgil Flowers as my fake date. He’s a people kind of guy, knows the way around most conversations, and can keep it going too. He’s also respectful towards most people (villains included), an empath, and not a bad-looking man either.
I have a pretty big platonic crush on the guy.

What made you decide to start a book blog?

I started during the lockdown of 2020 when a bunch of my friends were starting their own online businesses or passion projects. Some were starting their own podcasts or Youtube channels and I wanted a little special project too. I recalled making a WordPress, ages ago, with two family members (for shits and giggles) but I was a kid and didn’t know you needed to publicize the blog from private to public, couldn’t understand how it functioned and finally gave up the next day (I was like 8) 😂

Well, I didn’t have much creativity to start a novel, but I knew I wanted to write, so a book blog was the next best idea. Honestly, I just enjoyed the idea of mindlessly typing anything, but having a topic/theme isn’t so bad either.

What about reading and books do you love the most?

Forgetting you’re reading and not even realizing when the sun’s long gone from your room, wondering why you keep subconsciously turning up the Kindle light dial, being transported to another world, having a little movie theatre in your head, the list goes on. I love falling in love with an author’s writing, their worlds, their characters, watching some make huge improvements and growths as the plot deepens.

My favorite thing about reading, is when I occasionally come across a sentence so well-written, words so creatively strung up into a glorious gem of a jewelry piece, that it leaves me stunned and lost for words.

What is your field of study/desired profession/current profession?

I have an undergraduate degree in accountancy and am now an accountant. My desired field was medicine, botany, or toxicology and the trio are still constantly tumbling in my head. They’ve taken permanent residence and haven’t paid a day’s rent to me. If a genie came, I’d have changed my major to at least forensics, no hesitation (there was no bio at my school at the time).

What are some book recommendations that became your favorite/obsessions?

All recommendations have been thrown into my TBR with no hope of resurfacing, but a kind bookseller once showed me a whole shelf of Lee Child books and between her suggestions and my two/three Jack Reacher reads, I said, “Say no more, ma’am!” and promptly chucked some into my basket.

What is the book you shove down everyone’s throat?

Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer. It’s a book I’d won in a Twitter giveaway and has been one of the biggest 2021 blessings. I loved the book so much; the writing, characters, the plot, the world, lore, and ven the side characters. I cried so many times, I’ve screamed (reading is SO stress relieving right?), and afterwards, promptly tried to recommend it to everybody walking past me.

It’s my best read this year and maybe the best in the last few years!

I tag thou..and thou and thou!

Kate @ The Quick And The Read

Amy Louise @ The Shelf of Unread Books

Briennai @ Bri’s Book Nook

Jasmine @ My Quiet Little Corner

Pam @ The Picky Bookworm

Astrid @ Book Lover Book Reviews

J @ Midnight Book Blog

Mehsi @ Twirling Book Princess

Carol @ Reading Ladies Book Club

Vee @ Vee Bookish Books

Blogger Stats Book Tag

Esther12 Comments

Happy Thursday! It’s been a while since my last Book Tag Thursday so I’m pretty excited to do one again.
I saw this tag over on Zezee with Books off of their “A Long List of Book Tags” list. The tag was created by Stuart over at Always Trust in Books so make sure to give both of them a visit!

Last 3 Books You Read

Spoilers or Spoiler-Free

Spoilers are fine with me

I don’t mind spoilers at all!

This might sound awful considering how spoilers seem to mean to much to some people, but sometimes, when things get too intense, I like to flip to the end of the chapter or flip through the last few chapters, not to read or anything, but to make sure I see a character’s name so I know they live. I do this a lot and did this just the other day with one of my current reads 😅

How Long Have You Been Book Blogging?

About a year and half!

I started to blog during the 2020 lockdown, in mid April, and it’s been about a year and half or so?

A Book You Read in One Sitting

None? One in High School maybe?

I don’t do one-sitting reads as I’m simply incapable of sitting down and reading for that long. I came close once during High School when I read maybe 95% of the book in one period and finished it at the beginning of the next period. But generally speaking, I wouldn’t ever sit down to read in one sitting. I do come close occasionally.

Preferred Book Size (Novella, Tome, Etc.)

300 – 400 pages

I’m very much enjoying my current tome, Dragon Mage and I have a couple others sitting on my shelf but my favorite book lengths/sizes are generally 300 – 450 pages.

Amount of Books On Your TBR

Too many to count

That’s a hard question to ask any bookworm! I think that I’m going to die before I ever touch the end of my TBR 😭

A Book You DNF’D

I suffer the whole way

I rarely ever DNF, though I highly suggest for others to do so because it just makes reading so unenjoyable! I intend to eventually go back to this book one day, but I finally shelved it after like…6-9 months of forcing myself to read only to put it back down after like…3 words. A book I DNF’d would be The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I think the start was just kind of slow but the font and layout were the main killer (I’m never buying big books as mass market copies ever again). I intend to grab a library e-copy of it one day to finish the job but I barely crawled past chapter 4.

Recent Awards or Milestones

A badge on NetGalley and a streak on WP?

I guess my last badge on NetGalley had been the 10 reviews badge? I’m slowly making my way to the next count (I’m at 16) but for milestones, WordPress told me that today’s post makes for the 80th day posting streak. I’ll make another post about this in the future, but I’m intending to end it at 100 (the original goal was 365).

Best Interaction With An Author You Enjoy

Emailing Michael J. Sullivan

Sadly, I can’t recall the email address used for this and it was forever ago (I was a teen), but once I think I had emailed Michael J. Sullivan to tell him just how much I loved his books and writing and that I had dreams of being a writer myself. This whole conversation is so incredibly vague so don’t quote me on my email or his response, but I think I had asked him if he had any tips for new or aspiring writers. He was so very kind and in the end, he even sent over an e-copy of a book that I still have.

He remains one of my favorite authors even though I don’t read as much fantasy books nowadays.

Average Number of Books You Read Per Month

I’ve come a long way from 0.5/1 to 3 or 4

I have had a massive MASSIVE slump this year. From around January to June, I was reading anywhere from half a book to a book or 2 a month but before? I’d say my average was anywhere from none to 1. Then someone waved a magical bookish wand on me and something crazy just hit me. In July, I started to try to read a book a week (to keep up with the “post every day” self-challenge of mine) and now I’m reading about 4 books a month. Last month, I read 7!

After I stop at 100 posts, I’m going to pull back on all the reading, for a couple of weeks, just so I can focus on the last round of BBNYA reads.

Top 3 Publishers

Penguin, Orbit, and Tor

I enjoy books from Penguin(G.P. Putnam), Orbit Books, and Tor! There’s plenty of others but these are my main/top three.

Social Media Sites Your Blog Uses

Twitter and IG

I also use Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok (Book Tok) but compared to Twitter and Instagram? Far far less. And between Twitter and IG, itself, I use Twitter so much more. I’m on Twitter maybe every day versus every other or every few days on Instagram. It’s been a while since my last pin and post on Pinterest and Facebook and TikTok is just…there.

Average Amount of Time You Spend Networking

Not as much as I should

I occasionally comment on tweets from authors and other bloggers up on Twitter or engage in writer’s lifts and comment chains, but not often. I do love to chat up my blogger friends though (group chats).

Most Comfortable Blogging Position

The desktop

I blog mainly from my desktop. I have two monitors (for work) and it’s great to have one screen running with Youtube and another screen with the WordPress drafts. It’s also great to have one screen on Goodreads/Twitter/etc and the other on the drafts. I used to mainly blog on my laptop, but it’s gotten slower in the last few months and once you do multiple screens, going back to a single screen is kind of hard.

Music Or Quiet When Writing Reviews?

Music with no lyrics

I love to work to music with lyrics, podcasts, or audiobooks but whenever I have any written tasks (emails) or, for blogging and writing posts, I have to shut them all off. I can continue listening to music, but they can’t be with words (so lofi, piano, or heck even trap or techno music). I tend to write what I hear sometimes and that can lead to some very…unfortunate posts and emails. I’ll leave it to your imagination.

Can You Sum Up Your Blogging Style In 5 Words?

Memeish, Routine, Reviews, Medium?, and Free

Memeish: I tend to use bookish memes a lot but the ones I use the most are Teaser Tuesday, WWW Wednesday, and First Line[s] Friday.

Routine: Unless it’s the end/beginning of the month where I throw in a wrap up post or a “Next Month’s TBR” post, I tend to stick to the general same formula/routine. Mondays are always review days, Tuesdays are for Teaser Tuesdays, Wednesdays are for WWW Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are wildcards, and Fridays are for First Lines Fridays. My Sundays are generally weekly wrap up days.

I think that after I stop posting daily, after my 100 posts, the routine would probably change a little. I’ll probably keep the memes but lose my Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Reviews: I started Cozy with Books as a platform for book reviews. I figured it was better than Goodreads, ya know?

Medium: My post are generally small for memes, but a lot of times for reviews or chatty/discussion topics, I’d say I tend to write medium sized posts. My average words are about 2K(?) for reviews.

Free: The freedom to do whatever I want is liberating! The other day, I had the sudden urge to blog about this new horror game app I found (and finished that same day). It was so good that I needed to write about it, but my blog is a bookish blog…

I though, “Ah heck, it’s my blog. It’s not a paid job. Nobody is going to punish me for deviating from my theme and plus there’s a storyline section!” So, I threw up a review for a game. Because I wanted to 😉

A Blog You Look Up To Starting Out

Ashlee from Books are 42! ❤

One of the first that was always on my Twitter feed and one of the bloggers/blogs that I looked up to when I was starting out was Ashlee from Books Are 42! I still look up to her! Give her blog a peek! Ashlee is awesomesauce!

Best Book You Reviewed So Far

It’s a struggle between Shards of Earth and Sons of Valor!

I’ve reviewed a handful and rated a ton more before I started this blog, but if we’re talking the best book I’ve reviewed so far since starting Cozy with Books, out of the 39, it’d be a hard choice between Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Sons of Valor by Andrews & Wilson. As I’ve been enjoying contemporary a little more than SFF lately, the vote would have to be handed to Sons of Valor.

Best Piece of Blogging Advice

No pressure (not even from yourself!)

Blog when you want to, read when you want to, and ultimately do things only when you feel like doing it. Not feeling that book? DNF it. Not feeling like reading or blogging, don’t force yourself to. Breaks are a good thing so don’t ever feel bad for taking them.

Tags

I’m tagging anyone that’s interested in doing this one!

The Bookworm’s Book Tag

Esther7 Comments

Hello my lovelies!

Today’s post is going to be another book tag for Book Tag Thursday, and this time I get to have double the fun! I’m excited to dig into the question from The Bookworm’s Tag! I was tagged by two lovely bloggers, Kerri from Kerri McBookNerd and Danni from For Books Sake. Make sure to give both of their blogs and their own tag answers a visit because they’re great people with awesome blogs!

(Thank you Kerri and Danni!)

The Rules:

  1. Thank and link the blogger who nominated you
  2. Include the tag graphic in your post
  3. Answer the 10 questions the blogger asked
  4. Nominate 5-10 bloggers
  5. Ask your nominees 10 book related questions
  6. Don’t feel bound to these rules
  7. Have fun!

Kerri’s Questions:

1. Seeming as we’re already halfway through 2021, what is a 2022 release you can’t wait to read?

I haven’t looked into any 2022 books yet, but I do have a couple of 2021 books to look forward to. In fact, one just released! It’s Nolyn by one of my favorite authors, Michael J. Sullivan and it’s the first book to a new series.

2. What is your favorite bookish merch?

I’ve never purchased or received any bookish merch (maybe bookmarks?) but if I had to pick, I’d love to have some bookish clothing like hoodies with a book quote or themed scarves. Mugs are fun too!

(Probably hard to find) I’m a huge rubber duck collector so if there was EVER any book based rubber duck designs…I’d cry…

3. What is your favorite and least favorite trope?

My favorite trope is probably the squad/team trope and I always actively try to look for these books. It doesn’t matter if it’s in fantasy (like the Bridgeburners) or if it’s in modern day books like military thrillers. I love teams, I love squads, and I love group dynamics. I love when characters are watching each other’s backs, raiding and fighting together, and getting through hell and back together. I love the dialogues they exchange; the witty banter that gets tossed around. The found-family trope is pretty close to this and that’s another favorite trope.

My least favorite trope of all time is the love triangle. I rarely read romance and if there’s drama revolving around it (two people fighting over one person, sabotage because of love, etc.) I loss interest immediately.

4. Do you have a character that you really relate to/reminds you of yourself?

Hmmm…not really! A lot of characters, I tend to come across, are pretty darn extroverted, but even the introverted ones, I can’t really relate to. At the very least, thinking over all the characters in my 2021 books, there hasn’t been anyone I could relate to or reminds me of myself.

Maybe. Just MAYBE…Nick Paris from Breaking the Lore? He questioned how certain people around him were okay/sane/not raising a brow over the dream like BS that was happening to the human world. I mean, I probably wouldn’t find myself being an investigator, but the entire time I felt like his mood is the closest to what I’d feel if I were in his shoes.

5. What has been your favorite book so far in 2021?

I’d say, Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a pretty good one. Sons of Valor, The Lore of Prometheus, and Tomorrow’s End came really close, though!

6. What is your favorite book from childhood?

Nothing trumps my love for the Geronimo Stilton books. Sure, there were a whole lot of other childhood books I loved (in fact, I did a whole post on this), but Geronimo was simply on a different level in terms of creativity and colors.

7. If you could have any animal companion from any book, which would you pick?

Don’t we all want a dragon? I haven’t read about any miniature dragons yet (cat sized and follows/perched on you like a bird), but if I had to pick, I’d love a mini dragon. Large dragons are fully acceptable except that I’m just less worried that my tiny pet dragon will eat me compared to a full sized one, were I to be 5 minutes late to feeding hour.

8. Who are your top three authors?

Michael J. Sullivan, John Sandford, and Lee Child.

9. What is your favorite book in a genre you don’t usually read?

I don’t usually read comedy, but I loved I Am Not A Wolf by Dan Sheehan. I laughed the entire way through!

10. Which do you prefer: first, second, or third person narration?

I love third person and will always prefer third over everything else.

Danni’s Questions:

1. What is your biggest bookish pet peeve?

Dog ears : (

2. Do you read non-fiction? If yes, what types?

Not often, but I’m starting to enjoy memoirs a lot more. I also love travel books.

3. What is your GoodReads goal for the year? And how are you getting on with it?

25 and finally back on track! I’m this close to being ahead by a book too! Until recently, I was constantly teetering between 3 and 4 books behind. I think, with my plans laid out for the year, I might actually even be able to complete this year’s goal!

4. Who are your favorite indie authors?

Dan Sheehan and G.R. Morris both have fantastic narrating voices. I loved both of their books for the writing and dialogue.

5. Do you prefer paperback, hardback, ebook, or audiobook?

I guess this depends where I am. I live in the city so if I’m anywhere, but home, I tend to prefer my Kindle or phone for ebooks and audiobooks, with ebooks being my favorite (ever slightly above audiobooks). If I’m home though, I prefer physicals that I can tab and flip back and forth between glossaries, maps, and character introductions with hardcovers favored over paperbacks.

6. What has been your favorite book of 2021 so far?

I answered this from Kerri but happy to shout out to the world again how much I loved Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky!

7. Which book are you most excited to read in the remainder of 2021?

I am looking most forward to Ocean Prey by John Sandford.

8. What is your go to genre of choice?

Mystery Thrillers ❤ I’m always down for any thrillers or action books, but I love mystery thrillers the most.

9. Are there any genres that you just can’t stand reading?

Romance is my least favorite but I also dislike nonfiction-political books. They’re not my thing. I’m not huge on YA either, but if one caught my eye, I wouldn’t mind picking it up.

10. If you could interview one author (dead or alive), who would it be? and why?

John Sandford because he’s my favorite author.

My Questions:

  1. Do you have a favorite bookstore? If so, what is it?
  2. Who is your favorite book couple?
  3. What is one book you’ve read lately, that’s different to what you generally read?
  4. How would you describe your current read now in emojis?
  5. Are you a morning, afternoon, or evening/night reader?
  6. Where do you prefer to read? Chair? Sofa? Maybe the beach or café?
  7. Do you like to read in silence or with music?
  8. Which of your 2021 TBR are you most excited to start?
  9. How do you organize your bookshelf? (If you’re primarily an ebook reader, do you organize by folders?)
  10. If you fell into your current read, what would your life be like?

I Tag:

Book Snob Book Tag

Esther15 Comments

Happy Thursday! This week is going by absurdly fast. Maybe it’s because I took Monday off for doctors and then took after lunch, off, yesterday as well, for a follow up. I think the best part about this week is that I can finally turn off the A/C, even if it’s for just a night. Brrr…the chills are starting to set in (honestly, it’s probably just fake winter) but I’m so happy I could cry!

Today’s post is another book tag! I saw Erika’s answers to this tag and thought it looked really fun, so here we are! You can read her responses over at And On She Reads. Make sure to check out both her post and blog out while you’re there! I think the tag originated over on Booktube by the channel, Tia and All the Books so be sure to check out that channel too!

Questions

Adaptation Snob: Do you always read the book before watching the film/ TV show?

Nah. I don’t watch films/shows/movies enough for this to happen. If I were to stumble upon an adaptation of something that has a book version, it’s usually someone already throwing it up on the screen and I just plop down to watch with them. 90% of the time, I end up not sitting still long enough to watch much anyways.

I do this STUPID thing where, since I can’t sit through a show, I pop in and out of the living room but certain scenes do catch my interest. By then, I’ve missed most of the storyline. As I go to Google the summary version…it’s usually then that I find out the show was based on a book.

Format Snob: You can only choose 1 format in which to read books for the rest of your life. Which one do you choose: physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks?

My eyes are pretty bad and I’ve had glasses since I was a kid. The fear of going blind is always there at the back of my head. Despite really wanting to choose a physical or even eBooks (because of the adjustable font sizes), I’d have to say that at least audiobooks have a higher chance of always being there for me if my eyesight really were to go. Not to mention, with all my other hobbies (gaming, blogging, drawing) and chores, I could easily pull up an audiobook to listen to while I do all of those things. The other day, I had Breaking the Lore on while folding clothes!

Ship Snob: Would you date or marry a non-reader?

I live with people that happily go about never picking up a book, ever. My father proudly admitted/joked “Ha! All that money going to books? Look at me! One book lasted me YEAAARRS!” 😂

For me, as long as my SO doesn’t ever complain about my book reading hobbies (buying, blogging, actual reading) and we have other topics we love and share (gaming), then it’s all good! I’d totally date or marry a non-reader!

Genre Snob: You have to ditch one genre – never to be read again for the rest of your life. Which one do you ditch?

Romance. Romance is a thing I don’t care for in real life and something I find hard to connect to and hard to imagine so certain scenes just get lost to me. I am alright if romance is a secondary genre to a book, but romance books, I could live without.

Uber Genre Snob: You can only choose to read from one genre for the rest of your life. Which genre do you choose?

My favorite genre and books are mystery thrillers, police procedurals specifically. You’d think that’ll be my answer, but it’s not. After a certain amount of books about serial killers, assaulters, dead bodies, and dead end chases, not only do certain plots start sounding like all other plots, but I start feeling really sad and negative. This one is hard though. After all, I’m essentially ditching my favorite genre. Luckily enough, both mystery and thrillers can be found as subgenres elsewhere. If I had to pick one genre for life, then, it’ll probably be Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

Community Snob: Which genre do you think receives the most snobbery from the bookish community?

I’d have to say either YA or Romance. I’ve seen lots of people hating on both the writers and readers of romance books. While I don’t personally read romance, I don’t see why people would feel the need to go about bashing others for doing so. As for YA, I often see discussions about how either it’s not a real genre or that adults shouldn’t read YA. I’m sure other/all genres also get similar heat, but it’s often YA or romance that I see up at the chopping block.

Tags

Never Have I Ever Book Tag

Esther5 Comments

Happy Thursday, my lovelies!
I really enjoyed my last two weeks of book tags so I’m going to continue them until I stop finding new tags.
While looking for tag posts, I found Never Have I Ever on CJR The Brit‘s Book Blog (created by Madam Writer). Be sure to check both of them out as well!

Rules

1. Link back to the original creator! (Madame Writer)
2. Link back to the person who tagged you!
3. Answer all prompts.
4. Add one more prompt of your own.
5. Tag at least five people.
6. Don’t lie.
7. Have fun!

Never have I ever…read a later book in a series before reading the first book.

Yes. I used to actively look for the very first book and refuse to read any of the newer books until I at least read book one of the series. Then I would allow myself to skip around. Well…last week I purchased Rainbow Six despite not having read any of the previous books and with NetGalley I’m sure to come across more of this type of stuff.

Never have I ever…burned a book.

No. Eh-SQUEEZE me??? (Okay, it’s a no for me, but I did hear about an edition of Fahrenheit 451 that can only be read when burned. I thought that was a pretty neato concept).

Never have I ever…read a book I knew I would hate.

No. If I knew I would hate the book, it wouldn’t come home with me. If I did somehow find a copy of something I wouldn’t like, sitting in my shelves, I probably wouldn’t read it and just blame it on “Ever piling mountain of TBR” and “Sorry, just don’t have time for it, maybe if I cleared my current TBR though 😏.”

Never have I ever…wrote a fanfiction about my favorite books.

Specifically on books? No. I’ve only ever written a sparse few fanfictions in my life; there’s a couple on fanfiction.net and a couple on Ao3 and only on games I’ve played or cartoons I’ve watched as a kid (Please tell me someone remembers Spider Riders!!) I haven’t written one in a long while, but every now and then I still get emails for kudos and that warms my heart. Take a gander at my tiny three fics on Ao3 if you’d like.

Never have I ever…loved a book when I was young and hated it when I got older.

No. I can’t say I’ve hated a book ever, but the closest would probably be Harry Potter and I certainly don’t hate it. I just fell out of love for it and can’t get back into the book. But hate? Nope.

Never have I ever…dressed up as one of my favorite literary characters.

No. I’ve seen (and love watching) this on tiktok and IG, but I’ve never been one to dress up as anything or anyone (tv shows, movie characters, etc.)

Never have I ever… hated a book by an author I love.

No. I found this out recently after reviewing my list of books I’ve read by John Sandford (10 so far). If I really like a character, no matter how bad the book is, I always end up loving it somehow. Maybe it’s a bias, but there was this one book that people didn’t seem to like (by that author) and I was actively trying to seek those points out while reading and just couldn’t find it. And I was looking for them.

Never have I ever…gone into a bookstore to buy one book and come out with many more.

No. Funny enough, I am very good at this. I grew up with the library and books as luxury so, despite having the money now, I still go to bookstores to pick only 1 book up at a time and usually as a treat.

Never have I ever…read the end of a book before reading the beginning.

Yes. I am also very good at this. I justify this by uh…quoting this one article (that I can no longer find) stating that spoiling a book can lower blood pressure and stress or some squat that may or may not actually be true. I love spoilers. Sometimes, if I’m interested in a movie but can’t sit still to watch it through, I just tell the other people (brother usually) to “Just tell me how it ends later.” I’ve never cared about spoilers in my life.

Never have I ever…read a book without the dust cover.

Yes. If it’s a library book where the cover is pretty much taped to the book and it doesn’t wiggle around, yeah I understand. But if there’s a dust cover on a book I own, 100% of the time, that guy is coming off.
I don’t do this to protect the covers. I do this because reading with them on is a hassle!

Never have I ever…skim-read nearly half the book.

No. Half the book? No. Maybe a chapter or two, but I generally don’t skim because of FOMO 😬

Never have I ever…pretended to read a book I haven’t read.

Yes. Strictly school assigned books where I was not going to miraculously finish both the book and the assignment in a span of 24 hours (procrastination) or I just wasn’t feeling the vibe and ended up cliff noting it.

Never have I ever…had a book boyfriend.

YeNo? I’m not sure. Do minor book crushes count?

Never have I ever…picked up a book based on the cover alone.

Yes. Literally speaking and picking up a book based on the cover? Pleeennttty. Like so so many.
Purchasing though, hard no. I’m super picky, so there’ll be multiple reasons I’d buy a book, but a cover might be a contributing or even deciding factor!

Never have I ever…brought multiple books in a series without having started it.

NoYe. I wouldn’t do this with individual books from a new series, but if a book is a “Volume one of XYZ series” or an omnibus, I’d definitely go for it! In fact, I have an omnibus of The Black Company! (I didn’t realize it was an omnibus when I first purchased the Kindle version though).

Never have I ever…read a book so quickly that I don’t remember what happened by the end.

No. I am a slooooowww reader. I wouldn’t gulp down a book without savoring its taste first. But I’m also a very emotional reader. If I, a slow reader, ever find myself inhaling a book in a single (or two) sittings, that must be one hell of a book and that means I would remember everything. Get ready for a word vomit review if that’s the case.

Never have I ever…recommended a book without reading it first.

No. I think I would say something like, “I heard this is very good” or “Yo, this book is trending on booktok like crazy!” but I wouldn’t recommend a book I haven’t read yet.

Never have I ever…not bought a book because it was too big.

No. I am quite the opposite. Sometimes, I buy books because they are too big. You know, gotta prepare for them apocalypses bunkers where the internet will go down along with delivery services so that means no new books and only what I own…for life (or until whatever worldly cures brings us back to the surface).

MY QUESTION:

Never have I ever…own multiple editions of a book.

Yes. I’m guilty of this. I’m tempted to get the e-book version of The Eye of the World. One of the reasons I couldn’t continue reading the physical is because it’s a pain with the font size and margin layout with the words stuck so close to the binding. I also own both the Kindle and physical of the first omnibus of The Black Company because I saw the physical paperback at Barnes and Nobles, once, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it’ll be to hold it in my hands (and how it’ll look on my shelves).

I TAG:

The Fantasy Tropes Book Tag

Esther6 Comments

Happy Thursday morning!
Today’s post is going to be another book tag!
I was tagged by the lovely Danni over at For Books Sake! Make sure you give her blog a visit too 💯
Thank you Danni for the tag ❤

Rules:

  • Mention the creator ( One’s Peculiar )
  • Answer the questions
  • Tag as many people as you like
  • HAVE FUN!

1 – The Lost Princess – A book/series you lost interest in halfway through.

Harry Potter.
I only made it up to book 5, I believe, though book 4 was my most vivid.

I quite enjoyed reading those books as a kid, not because they were particularly good books, but because I felt cool being this pint of a child carrying around a tome of a book. But by the time I was in high school, I started to find other books more fun (nonfiction science books and history books). Then I started college where I completely stopped reading (for fun) to focus on studying and by the time I finally picked up a book again, post graduation, I just simply lost interest with Harry Potter and didn’t care for the writing or plot anymore. I know how the series ends. I know who dies. And that’s enough to satisfy my curiosity.

2 – The Knight in Shining Armour – A hyped book/series you were swept up by.

You know what? I have such a backlog of books I want to read that I haven’t actually made it to the latest hype books that have been circulating BookTwt or BookTok! Though…Prince of Thorns was pretty popular and I loved Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Fools so I might enjoy Prince of Thorns. But for truly reading and getting swept up by a hyped up book/series? Not yet.

3 – The Wise Old Wizard – An author who amazes you with his/her writing.

A recent new discovery and new author for me, I quite enjoyed reading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shards of Earth, so much so that I’m sitting here eagerly waiting for the second book of The Final Architects series. The book and the writing blew me away. So, here I am, low-key stalking the series 👀

4 – The Maiden in Distress – An undervalued character you wished had a bigger storyline.

The Shattered Sigil Trilogy has two main POVs, first person (Dev) and third person (Kiran). Dev has a friend, that Kiran eventually grows closer to too, but I don’t believe she has her own POV chapters, or if she did, it’s not enough, compared to the main two (it’s been a year or two since I last read the books). I love the trio, though most of the books revolve around Dev and Kiran so it’s understandable. Still, I’d love to read more about Cara and hoping I’ll see more of her in the final book.

5 – The Magical Sword –  A magical item/ability you wish authors used less.

I don’t think I’ve ever wished for an item or ability to be used less so I’m not sure for this one.

6 – The Mindless Villain – A phrase you cannot help but roll your eyes at.

Is there anyone who is going to say anything other than the “Held a breath they didn’t know they were holding”? I used to think it was a YA thing but now I see that it’s everywhere. This phrase is haunting me!

7 – The Untamed Dragon – A magical creature you wish you had as a pet.

Ah, my favorite question on here!

When I was a kid, I drew up a continent map made up of countries, different religions, leaderships, different local delicacies (you name it)…and of course different creatures! Amongst them (albeit still rare) were cat sized dragons! They were the spicier versions of dogs, but less so than cats. One of my OCs had one named Apple, a runt even amongst his species of “micro-dragons” who loved eating apples, resting on his owner’s hair and using it’s tail as a scrunchie. His favorite place to sleep was in the fire of the fireplace. There’s a special orb that can change a mico-dragon into a much bigger one and my OC would ride it like a dragon rider, striking from Apple’s back with his lance and…and I could talk all day about it.

(Listen. I put nearly 2 decades worth of thought into my imaginary world!)

8 – The Chosen One – A book/series you will always root for.

[Not a fantasy series but] My favorite series that I’ll always love and definitely always root for would be the Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford. I’ve read 9 out of the 13 books and I hope they never stop coming.

Tagging:

Mid-Year Reading Check In Tag

Esther5 Comments

Oh the grand weekend is here again!

Happy Saturday, everyone!
Today’s post is going to be my response to the Mid-Year Reading Check In Tag. Thank you so much to Danni over at ForBooksSake for tagging me! Make sure you take a look at her lovely blog too!

How much have you read?

I’ve read 11 books and my goal is 25 so I’m slightly behind schedule. With one of my audiobook reads coming to a close, I’m hoping that I can start closing that gap in the near future.

What have you been reading?

I’ve definitely started reading more audiobooks because I realized how great of a work companion they can be. They help make the workday go by at lightning speeds. I’ve also noticed that my latest reads have been mostly indie or self-published books and I’ve been really enjoying them.

Best book you’ve read so far in 2021

I’ve had a few solid reads this year, but I think I would have to hand this one to Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky, though The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King came in at a close second. Both books were from blog tours, too!

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021

I’ve only read one sequel this year and it wasn’t exactly a favorite of mine, though it wasn’t a bad book. Still, I didn’t read enough sequels to pit anything against each other.

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to

Most definitely, I’m most looking forward to digging into Ocean Prey by John Sandford. I’m putting it off until I catch up a little more of the series (almost there), but I’m really REALLY excited for it. It’s sitting in my bookshelf staring at me, everyday.

Most anticipated release for the second part of the year

I’m constantly finding new authors, so my TBR and anticipated reads usually tend to be for books that are already published or sometimes even long released. However, I do know that one of my favorite authors, Michael J. Sullivan, the author of the Riyria books, is coming up with a new series and book one is coming out [expected] August 3rd this year and I am really really excited about it. I’m looking forward to Nolyn, the first book of The Rise and Fall series by Michael J. Sullivan

Biggest disappointment

I haven’t been disappointed yet!
I guess that’s a pretty darn good thing! 😳

Biggest surprise

I really want to say that Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky and River Queens by Alexander Watson are my biggest surprise because they came from genres/subgenres that I rarely read (space opera and nonfiction, respectively), but if current reads count in this tag, seeing as I’m thhiiss close to finishing it, I think my biggest surprise would have to be Sons of Valor by Brian Andrew and Jeffrey Wilson because it’s been one of the two books that’s had my heart up at my throat with adrenaline and fear. Finished reads wise, I’d definitely have to give this one to Shards of Earth again.

New favorite author (debut or new to you).

I’ve discovered some amazing new authors this year! Some of my favorite includes Adrian Tchaikovsky and Rob Sinclair. Right now, I’m really enjoying Brian Andrew and Jeffrey Wilson and I adored Daniel James Sheehan’s writing.

Underrated gems you’ve discovered recently

River Queens! It’s a nonfiction book about boats and I absolutely loved it. It was definitely a gem.

Rereads this year

I haven’t finished it, but whenever I get a chance, I’ve been going back and rereading Dark of the Moon by John Sandford to rediscover the first time I was introduced to and fell in love with Virgil Flowers.

Newest fictional crush

I feel like I mentioned this somewhere or to someone, but I have definitely told at least one person that I have a new fictional book crush and that would be Idris from Shards of Earth 😊

Newest favorite character

*Ahem*…. Idris 🤭

Book that made you cry

While not comparable to some of the books, out there, that’s made me bawl my eyes out, River Queens: Saucy boat, stout mates, spotted dog, America came pretty close because there have been some beautiful moments and then some that were pretty sad and actually made me tear up. Overall though, I had a pretty tearless 2021.

Book that made you happy

I Am Not A Wolf by Dan Sheehan was humorous and satirical but the writing and the narrator put the biggest and goofiest grin on my face the entire way through the book.

Favorite book to film adaption

I don’t watch films or movies and I tend to stay away from book to film/movie adaptions because once I have my own mental image of the world and characters, using a real life cast kind of ruins that for me. I, also, can barely sit still long enough to read, let alone watch a film.

Most beautiful cover you’ve brought (or received) this year

A lot of my favorite and most beautiful covers are from previous years, but I definitely “judged based on the cover” and purchased (on a whim) The Romantic Poets, the Canterbury Classics flexibound version. I chose it because…of the glitter on the cover… I can’t find a picture on the internet that can do it enough justice than to physically hold its heft in your hand, to just feel the silky cover, and to look at the shiny glitter… Not to mention, the stunning endpapers…!

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I think I’ve mentioned this a couple times, but during a house move (and I’ve moved a lot in the past) I lost a really good Goodreads giveaway book but during another move, I unearthed it with some other books I thought were gone forever. I had started it and it was pretty good so I was pretty sad about it. I fully intend to restart and finish this before the end of the year.

Favorite post you have done this year?

I have a lot of favorite posts this year, but the other day, I posted my very first interview so it’s a pretty special post for me.
– Author Interview: Nathan Timmel

Some of my other personal favorites:
– Dragma’s Keep Review
– The Lore of Prometheus Review
– Shards of Earth Review
– Sci-Fi (Cyberpunk) Want to Reads
– Favorite Phone Apps

Favorite book community member

I have a lot of favorite book community members and sadly, I can’t name them all nor can I pick just one, but my favorite “communities” would be a particular group chat of mine that are always giving out free hugs and so much support be it book/blog related or life related. The United Weirdos of The Write Reads group chat is very special to me, but I love a whole lot of people from the book community and I wouldn’t be where I am without the lot of you ❤

Tagging:

The Blogger Recognition Award

Esther13 Comments

Another tag post for Book Tag Thursday!

Thursday means that we are ALMOST there to the weekend. It’s so close, I could touch it…!

Today’s tag post is for The Blogger Recognition Award! I was thrilled to wake up to a notification that I had been nominated by the lovely Kerri, over at Kerri McBooknerd! Kerri, thank you so much (and lots of love to you and your blog too!) Go over and give her amazing page a visit and follow!

I’m not particularly sure who started and hosted this tag, but if you do know, please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due ❤

The Rules:

  • Thank the blogger/s who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  • Write a post to show your award.
  • Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  • Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  • Select up to 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
  • Comment (or pingback) on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How My Blog Started:

I was bored.

It was lock-down.

And everyone else was starting their own little passion projects.

I had friends with their business pages, others learning languages, some getting into or back into music…and I was doing nothing but wake up, work, and log off to do nothing. I missed reading the way I did as a kid and while it started to pick back up after I finally found the time to leisurely read again, I wanted to write. Goodreads felt stale and I so…one evening after work, I planted myself in front of the bathroom (the laptop was being charged and the other outlets were occupied) and tapped away until I had what resembled a half-way decent looking website off of WordPress and ta-dah! Cozy with Books was born!

– The Old/Original Logo –
I stayed up late one night to draw up a logo (the creative juices only ever flow after midnight) and after nearly 30 trashed doodles, I finally settled on this one.

It’s been over a year now and I’ve definitely slowed down in reading…but despite a ton of “maybe blogging is just too much for me” moments, I somehow always find my way back here. I guess I just really needed a platform, an outlet of any kind, to let loose and just scream my feels out loud to an audience, even if my audience is small. There’s just something ultra satisfying about being part of the reading and writing community, writing the reviews, and just typing. Maybe I missed high school English class assignments. Who knows. Whatever the case, I’m still here and I don’t plan on leaving any time soon.

My Advice To New Bloggers:

  • Starting to feel overwhelmed like how I do sometimes? Take a hiatus! I wanted to slowly leave the blogging world when the lock-down lifted where I expected to be more busy with less reading time. No reading means no content for the blog since I mainly do reviews. It’s OK to take breaks. It doesn’t matter if you have to excuse yourself for a single weekend, a few days or a week, or even an entire month (or more!). It’s okay to only post once every few weeks. It’s okay if you can only make weekly bookish meme posts or only do review for the time being. Do what feels cozy to you and then come back. I sure do! Sometimes I just go poof! And that’s aaaalllright 👍
  • A little planning goes a long way! Occasionally, if I have a bunch of time-sensitive tasks, I start planning. (Say) If I have three books for tours that’s due a certain date, scattered throughout the month, I’ll start early and plan to read a set amount of pages a day. The same can go for blogging. A simple calendar is a great tool to keep track of when was your last posting date, when you want to sit down for the initial blog draft, when you want to sit for the editing, and heck, you can even schedule when you want to sit down to plan. I usually start scheduling at the head of the month on what posts I’m planning to put up for the month and it’s really helpful!

My Nominations!